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Match factsNovember 17-21, 2016 Start time 1030 local (2130 GMT previous day)Big PictureFor once, Pakistan arent attracting pre-series headlines. There has been no turmoil on this trip. No stirred-up talk of an embattled captaincy or selection chaos. Mohammad Amirs re-entry into international cricket is old news. The only distraction has been Monday mornings 7.5-magnitude earthquake, but even that has barely affected Christchurch, even if it did give the visitors a jolt in Nelson.If there has been an uncommon dearth of diversions, it is partly because the cricket is so tantalising. Pakistan, arguably the best all-conditions team on the planet, will embark on a long southern summer in which, with some luck, they will have a tilt at the top ranking. New Zealand, battered in India and South Africa, seek to re-impose themselves on the seam-friendly venues where a formidable home record had recently been composed.Having not lost a Test series since August 2014, Pakistan should enter the contest as favourites, only, such is the sway of home advantage in recent years, that New Zealand will not feel like underdogs on their soil.Tim Southee returns to the side with a fresh first-class five-for, after having sat out the India Tests with injury. Neil Wagner and James Neesham have also displayed good domestic bowling form. Todd Astle may not be in the league of Yasir Shah, but he does have a five-wicket haul at Hagley Oval in the past three weeks. None of this may matter when an experienced Pakistan middle order gets moving, but after a dispiriting stint in India, these are the mildly-pleasant tidbits of information New Zealand are repeating to themselves in the mirror.Although they had lost the Sharjah dead rubber to West Indies, there is a restrained confidence to the Pakistan side, perhaps stemming from memories of that 2-2 result in England, or even from their most-recent series in New Zealand, which they had won. Of the likely attack, Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz have both played in the country. Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq have all done likewise.New Zealands best hope may lie in harder, faster pitches, the likes of which helped England triumph over Pakistan in Edgbaston; the complication, being of course, that their own top order, which is low on form and carrying a newbie in opener Jeet Raval, must also withstand the bowling of Amir, Wahab and the like.Form guideNew Zealand: LLLLD (last five completed matches, most recent first)? Pakistan: LWWWLIn the spotlightThis year Ross Taylor has scored 456 Test runs at an average of 57, only 364 of those runs came against Zimbabwe, who had not previously played a Test in 20 months. Against other opposition, he has not scored a half-century since the 290 at Perth, over a year ago. Though his place in the side is secure for now - he was hardly the only New Zealand batsman struggling in India - Kane Williamson will hope his senior batsman will take the lead in yanking the top order out of its funk.On the other end of the form spectrum, Azhar Ali is coming off a sublime series against West Indies, in which he hit 302 not out, 79 and 91. Following a tough 2013, Azhar has averaged over 50 in each of the past two years, and has a 2016 average of 64.08, after 14 innings. He now has the opportunity to transition from being a good player to an outstanding one. Healthy returns in New Zealand will add heft to an improving record.Teams newsKane Williamson confirmed opener Raval will debut on Thursday, while Astle also looks set for his second Test. New Zealand have three spots for four fast bowlers, and, of those, Matt Henry looks likeliest to miss out. Allrounder James Neesham may also play ahead of Colin de Grandhomme.New Zealand (possible): 1. Jeet Raval, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 James Neesham, 7 BJ Watling (wk), 8 Todd Astle, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Trent BoultPakistan are also faced with decisions on their attack. As the pitch appears seam friendly, Sohail Khan may feature alongside Amir, Wahab and Yasir. Babar Azam may make it into the side on the strength of his half-century on debut against West Indies, failing which Mohammad Rizwan could be in store for a debut.Pakistan(possible): 1 Sami Aslam, 2 Azhar Ali, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Babar Azam/Mohammad Rizwan, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Yasir Shah, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Sohail KhanPitch and conditionsThe Hagley Oval surface has generally been spicy on the first three mornings, before flattening out towards the end of the day, and the Test. Rain is forecast for Thursday and Friday, but it is expected to clear by the weekend.Stats and triviaBoth Misbah and Alastair Cook have 24 Test victories as captain, making them the most successful leaders still active in the game. Both men have the chance to edge ahead, with Englands match with India also starting on ThursdayThe Christchurch Test is Williamsons first as captain, at home. He has begun his leadership career with two victories, one draw and three lossesNew Zealand have not beaten Pakistan in a series since 1985. In 53 Tests between the teams, New Zealand have won just eight matches; Pakistan have won 24.QuotesHome advantage is a good thing, I think, but it provides opportunities for both sides, and a side like Pakistan who have toured well for a while now will know that. Theyll expect their seamers to do well.Kane WilliamsonWe need to make sure that we bat with discipline and put good scores on the board. Our bowling is very much capable of performing well in any sort of conditions.Misbah-ul-Haq . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. . All of the scoring came in the final 20:04. Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead. . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. LOS ANGELES -- With both teams winning on each others home courts, the WNBA Finals are headed to a decisive fifth game for the second straight year.And just like a year ago, the Minnesota Lynx will be at home with a chance to win a record-tying fourth title.They earned their third by beating the Indiana Fever last year. Now, theyll try to finish off the Los Angeles Sparks in the deciding game Thursday.We have created a tough place to play at Target Center. Im expecting 15,000-plus fans for Game 5, Lynx guard Seimone Augustus said. Theyre going to bring the energy and were going to bring the pain.The Sparks hurt themselves with turnovers in the waning minutes of an 85-79 loss in Game 4 on Sunday night.With Kobe Bryant and Sparks co-owner Magic Johnson watching courtside, Maya Moore scored 31 points and the Lynx dominated in rebounding and fast-break points to even the series.This is what a Finals game should look like, both teams leaving it all out on the floor, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said.Lindsay Whalen added 13 points, Augustus had 12 and Sylvia Fowles had 10 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota.Chelsea Gray led the Sparks with 20 points off the bench. She was 6 of 11 and made all four of her free throws.Minnesotas defense clamped down on the Sparks powerful duo of Nneka Ogwumike and Candace Parker, whose stellar resumes are missing only a WNBA championship. They were held to single-digit scoring in the first half.Ogwumike, the league MVP, finished with 11 points on 5 of 10 shooting, while two-time MVP Parker had 14 points and made 6 of 7 free throws for the Sparks, who are seeking their first title since 2002.Los Angeles opened the series with a two-point victory at Minnesota. The Lynx responded with a 19-point victory in Game 2 before the Sparks returned home and rodde a big first-quarter to a 17-point win in Game 3.ddddddddddddristi Toliver, who finished with 15 points, expects the deciding game to be as unpredictable as the others.Its going to be a dogfight. Its going to be up and down. Its going to be physical, she said. Hopefully well learn from this experience of knowing how to close out a series.The teams have three days until Game 5, the longest rest of the Finals. The Lynx head home on Monday, while the Sparks depart on Tuesday.We didnt lack desire to win or a will. We competed hard enough, Sparks coach Brian Agler said. Weve just got to put that back together and play with more poise.The Sparks outscored the Lynx 10-4 to open the fourth quarter, tying it at 69-all on Parkers driving bank shot as she fell out of bounds. Los Angeles went 6 of 9 from the free throw line in that span.Whalen scored two straight baskets to put the Lynx back in front 73-69 on turnovers by Ogwumike and Toliver.Grays fourth 3-pointer drew the Sparks to 77-75.They were down 79-77 when Parker was called for a shooting foul on Rebekkah Brunson, who made both free throws for an 81-77 lead. Ogwumike scored once more to pull the Sparks within two before Moore sealed the victory with a pair of free throws.I dont know if were going to see the results on Thursday, but this game is really going to help us because its the first time this team has been in this kind of environment, Agler said. Of course were playing against a great opponent thats been there several times, and you could tell the difference in both teams. Going through this, I could just sort of tell from our facial expressions in the locker room, this was new for them. ' ' '
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